Dear Henderson Mill Community,

“Ganoog!” Growing up in my home, my mother had a slew of funny, often foreign words or expressions that she used to get our attention. It didn’t take long for my brother and me to understand exactly what she meant. “Ganoog” loosely translates to “Enough!” or better yet “Enough is enough!” She used to say that one too. What does that mean exactly? My mother was trying to let us know that we needed to stop whatever it was we were doing. Whether annoying each other or acting silly when it wasn’t the time or place, “Ganoog!” was her way of saying that “Enough is enough!”

Monday morning I dropped my family off at the airport. Of all places, they were on their way to Parkland, FL. The trip was planned well before last week’s violence. Nancy grew up in that area and they went to see her best friend who lives in Parkland with her husband and their son, a junior in high school. Thankfully their child goes to a different high school, but we do have some attachments to that school.

Whether it is that school or some other school, it’s scary in the aftermath knowing that it could really happen anywhere. These incidents of violence occur, there is an outcry for something to be done, and then it fades from the public view. How quickly we forget and move back to the comfort of “not at my school”. That, of course, is what the residents of Parkland thought too.

So what are we doing here at Henderson Mill? We are not waiting for action by the government. We are quite frankly, doing what we can do. Following the incident in Florida, our front office and leadership team met to discuss how we are using the protective resources at hand. You can expect that if our front office staff doesn’t recognize you, they will ask you a few questions before they buzz you in. You’ll hear about more lockdown drills in the coming weeks as we practice for how we will react if, heaven forbid, we confront something like this.

What’s the bigger solution you ask? Surely those within education must know. Or maybe not. Is it gun control? Arming educators? More mental health services? Better communication between the school and federal agencies? Without getting into politics, I believe that whatever convictions you have, no matter what you believe the solution is, you should let your voice be heard. I think we can agree that inaction is not the solution. We have to try something. Because enough is enough.

To quality relationships,
Mitch
Mitch Green
Principal